European sides dominated the last day, winning all classification matches. After two lost finals, Spain claimed the gold medal as they beat Australia in the final with a fine performance. The Netherlands took the bronze with a miraclous comeback against the ex-title-holder US team.
After the semi-finals yesterday, there was something in the air that it could be the Spanish team’s time this time around. In 2012 and in 2021, they had to face the mighty US team and they were unable to hold off the Americans. After the Aussies eliminated the three-time champions in the semi-finals, the team were no longer in Spain’s way to the coveted title. Couple that with the brilliant 13-11 win over the US at the start of the tournament, it showed that they were really ready to achieve something big in Paris.
Adding six more victories to that achievement, it was clear that they had a chance at glory, but it wasn’t an easy path. Standing in front of the golden gate, it was clear that there were nerves – their sharp man-up play didn’t really work in the first half. Despite netting two quickly to lead 2-1, their best shooters Judith Forca and Bea Ortiz missed a woman-up shot each and Alice Williams tied the match two seconds from time in the first.
Their miseries continued in the second, as they missed three more extras before Maica Garcia could send the ball home from a 6 on 5 to score the only goal of the quarter. Martina Terre did a terrific job in Spain’s goal, as she kept her sheet clean for almost ten minutes. In front, Ortiz offered her usual precision – opening the third with a brilliant action goal, and soon netted a penalty as Spain seemed to have found the right rhythm, with the giants leading 5-2. After having five goals in the first half, the second produced a flurry of goals, with teams hitting seven goals in total and Spain held on for a 7-5 lead before the final period.
With some luck, the Aussies came close early in the second as they had three shots in a possession to make it 7-6. However, Ortiz was unstoppable – converting the next 6 on 5. In less than a minute, Garcia finished off another woman-up from close to reset the three-goal cushion with 4:12 minutes to play. Williams hit another one but Espar was also was on target from the wing for 10-7 and when Garcia could score at the end of a visibly dead possession for 11-7, it was all over with 1:49 to go. Though their rivals halved the distance in the remaining time, their last hit came 19 seconds from time and Spain could start their usual wild celebrations.
They became only the third nation, after Italy and the US, to have both their men’s and women’s teams win at least one Olympic title respectively – Spain’s only other victory came 28 years after their men had triumphed in Atlanta.
The Dutch comeback queens staged a semi-miracle in the semi-finals when they managed to climb back from five goals down before losing to Spain in a penalty shootout. They did it again this time around and pulled off a full miracle as they claimed the bronze medal against a mighty US team – scoring the last four goals of the match.
For three and a half periods it was the Americans, winners of the previous three editions, who seemed to keep the match under firm control. Despite the renewing surges of the European champions, they managed to score in the crucial phases. At halftime they were 7-3 up and held on for 9-5 till late in the third, when Sabrina van der Sloot scored from a counter for 9-6. Still, trailing by three against the US with eight minutes to go seemed like writing on the wall for any team, up until today.
Even deep into the fourth it was still hard to see how the Netherlands would get the medal as the Americans were still 10-7 ahead after Flynn sent the ball home from an extra with 4:27 remaining. Then came the Vivien Sevenich Show, as she put away a 6 on 5 after a fine save from Laura Aarts, with Sevenich scoring a magnificent goal from the centre. She was barely above the water with three defenders surrounding her, but she could managed to send the ball flying past the keeper. Within 40 seconds, the Dutch were back at 9-10 and 3:14 on the clock. After two minutes of battling, the Dutch earned a 6 on 5 and Bente Rogge’s hit blew up the Defense Arena as it was even with 1:19 to go. Musselman missed a centre shot, with the Dutch making a turnover, but this time it was the US couldn’t create any danger either. With 0:09 on the clock, a time-out was called and Holland went for a brave 7 on 6 and after a couple of passes van der Sloot let the ball fly and it ended up in the net with just 0.7 seconds left on the clock.
In the other classification games, Hungary were trailing 9-11 with 1:30 to go but netted two in 39 seconds after going goalless for 15 minutes. They then denied Italy’s last 6 on 5 and with two saves on Italy’s first two attempts they won the shootout to finish 5th. Greece set a single-game scoring record for these Games as they hit 19 against Canada to grab the 7th place.
Women’s tournament
Final: Australia v Spain 9-11
Bronze medal: United States v Netherlands 10-11
For the 5th place: Hungary v Italy 11-11, pen: 4-1
For the 7th place: Greece v Canada 19-10
